Persian Women
1597/99 | Otto Van Veen
This painting depicting a scene from Plutarch’s Brave Women (Moralia 246A-B), is generally regarded as a companion of Otto van Veen’s Amazons and Scythians; Persian Women depicts them raising their skirts to mock their menfolk fleeing a battlefield: “Whither are you rushing so fast, you biggest cowards in the whole world? Surely you cannot, in your flight, slink in here whence you came forth.” Thus shamed, the men stop to face the enemy once more, and win a crushing victory.
This painting depicting a scene from Plutarch’s Brave Women (Moralia 246A-B), is generally regarded as a companion of Otto van Veen’s Amazons and Scythians; Persian Women depicts them raising their skirts to mock their menfolk fleeing a battlefield: “Whither are you rushing so fast, you biggest cowards in the whole world? Surely you cannot, in your flight, slink in here whence you came forth.” Thus shamed, the men stop to face the enemy once more, and win a crushing victory.
Artist:
Otto Van Veen (1556 Leiden - 1629 Brüssel) DNB
previously attributed to:
Niederländisch
Time:
1597/99
Object Name
Painting
Culture
Netherlandish; Flemish
Material/technology:
wood
Dimensions:
Overall: 132 cm × 195,2 cm × 1 cm
Framed: 148,5 cm × 211,5 cm × 6 cm
Stamp / markings
Vorderseite links unten: Stempel Kaiser Karls VI. mit kaiserlichen Doppeladler und böhmischen Löwen; Rückseite: links oben: Roter Stern; rechts unten: Stempel Kaiser Karls VI. mit kaiserlichen Doppeladler und böhmischen Löwen
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 2668
Provenance
Probably from the treasury of Rudolf II; 1685 in Prague;